The Younger Wife

by Sally Hepworth, Barrie Kreinik (Read by), Caroline Lee (Read by), Jessica Douglas-Henry (Read by), Zoe Carides (Read by)

Overview

Sally Hepworth, the newest breakout star of domestic suspense, delivers her next twisty novel about family secrets and lies in The Younger Wife.

Stephen Aston is getting married again. The only problem is, he's still married to his first wife, even though she is in a care facility for dementia. But he'll take care of that easily, by divorcing her—even if his adult daughters protest.

Tully and Rachel Aston look upon Heather as nothing but an interloper. Heather is the same age as Rachel and even younger than Tully. Clearly she's a golddigger and after their father's money. Heather has secrets that she's keeping close, and reasons of her own for wanting to marry Stephen.

With their mother unable to speak for herself, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family's secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is. But will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses...in all of them?

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250835659
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	04/05/2022
Sales rank:	384,367
Product dimensions:	5.15(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Sally Hepworth has lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Canada. She is the author of The Secrets of Midwives, The Things We Keep, The Mother's Promise, The Family Next Door and The Mother-in-Law. Sally now lives in Melbourne with her husband, three children, and one adorable dog.

Editorial Reviews

01/10/2022

In this appealing domestic suspense novel from bestseller Hepworth (The Good Sister), Pamela Aston’s two adult daughters, Tully and Rachel, are already reeling at the swiftness of the Melbourne, Australia, homemaker’s deterioration with early-onset Alzheimer’s when their cardiac surgeon father, Stephen, blindsides them with another bombshell—his plan to divorce Pam, who’s soon moved to a nursing home, and marry interior designer Heather Wisher, who’s younger than either sister. Further shocks await Rachel, a gorgeous plus-size baker who by her own account eats her feelings, as well as Tully, the always anxious mother of two little boys, as they try to figure out how seriously to take Pam’s occasional utterances suggesting that life with Stephen may have had a darker side. Meanwhile, the surprisingly sympathetic Heather starts to question her wedding plans—and possibly her sanity—now that she’s living with Stephen full-time. The toxic secrets each woman has been hiding, a surprise romance, and the small fortune Rachel discovers in her mother’s hot water bottle nicely complicate the fast-moving plot. This often funny and affecting outing should win Hepworth new fans. Agent: Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Creative Management. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

CNN.com's May Most Anticipated list

"Smart, suspenseful, brimming with secrets. This is Sally Hepworth at her unputdownable best." —Kate Morton, New York Times Bestselling Author

"Completely compulsive. Sally Hepworth delivers with this stay-up-late one-more-chapter gem." —Jane Harper, New York Times Bestselling Author

"A warped tale [that] boasts Jane Harper’s multilayered characters and Liane Moriarty’s wealthy suburban world saturated with lies and deceit. With each domestic thriller, best-selling Hepworth shines brighter and draws in more readers." —Booklist

"[An] appealing domestic suspense novel from bestseller Hepworth [with a] fast-moving plot. This often funny and affecting outing should win Hepworth new fans." —Publisher's Weekly

"Hepworth — author of “The Good Sister” and “The Family Next Door — deftly weaves a detailed family story into a fast-paced thriller." —The Washington Post

"So dysfunctional are Hepworth’s characters that they make the Sopranos resemble the Waltons...A rollicking good read that values plot and characterization equally, The Younger Wife incisively explores the causes of psychological disturbances hidden by well constructed façades." — Free Lance-Star

From the Publisher

★ 04/18/2022

Hepworth's latest novel (following The Good Sister) begins at the wedding of Stephen Aston, a respected heart surgeon in South Australia, and the much younger Heather Wisher. It seems perfect—surrounded by Stephen's daughters Rachel and Tully, family, friends, even his ex-wife, Pamela—until, just after the ceremony, there is a scream, a thud, and the celebrant emerges pale and bloody. A series of flashbacks from the points of view of Heather, Rachel, and Tully reveal shocking secrets that unravel the ersatz perfect family and threaten a carefully constructed façade that someone may be willing to do anything to protect. Hepworth weaves the struggles of dementia, sexual assault, anxiety, and domestic abuse into the lives of realistic, likable characters that readers will be rooting for. VERDICT As much a mystery as a character study of three young women coping with love, loss, and trauma while struggling with the discovery of being deceived by the one they count on most. This title will appeal to fans of Jamie Brenner, Jodi Picoult, and Celeste Ng.—George Lichman

Library Journal